1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to digital cameras and more particularly to a system and method for using a unified memory architecture to implement a digital camera device.
2. Description of the Background Art
Modern digital cameras typically include an imaging device which is controlled by a built-in computer system. The built-in computer system accesses raw image data captured by the imaging device and then processes and compresses the data before storing the compressed data into an internal memory. Efficient operation of the built-in computer is therefore an important consideration for camera designers and manufacturers. The memory architecture of a particular computer system determines data storage techniques and can thus significantly effect the operational efficiency of the entire digital camera system.
In conventional hardware-based digital cameras, the system memory architecture is typically implemented using multiple discrete blocks of memory. The conventional digital camera captures raw image data and then remains unusable until the data is completely processed and stored into internal flash memory. This conventional memory architecture does not readily support the rapid capture of a series of image data sets and is therefore somewhat inconvenient in certain photographic applications.
Furthermore, in modern computer systems, a multi-threading environment effectively allows multiple system processes to run concurrently. The multi-threading environment may thus permit a digital camera to more efficiently process, compress and store image data by performing these functions in the background, when the built-in computer is not busy with more important tasks such as capturing additional sets of image data. A memory architecture which supports the background spooling functions can therefore significantly increase the computer system efficiency. Therefore, an improved system and method is needed for using a unified memory architecture to implement a digital camera device.